A Corona motor oil company has decided to remain in town rather than move its headquarters to Indiana.

"It doesn't look like it's in the plans right now," said Robert E. Patison, executive vice president for Lucas Oil Products Inc. "It's not out of the question, but it's not happening at this time."

An expansion of its latest marketing endeavor is in Lucas Oil's plans, however. The company may buy a $1 million satellite broadcast production vehicle to air motor sports events live. The company is holding off on the purchase until the cable television industry settles on its high-definition broadcast standards, Patison said.

The vehicle would augment the company's investment last October in television and radio production studios and four editing bays built into its Corona headquarters. The company paid more than $500,000 for the build out and additional staff, Patison said. Rather than contracting with third parties to produce the "Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour" commercials and sponsorship spots, the company creates the segments on site.

Lucas Oil hired nine people to handle its media production activities. The company has 100 employees in Corona and about 300 company ide. It reaps annual revenue in excess of $150 million

"It's significantly reduced the costs of production by taking it in-house and negotiating directly with the networks for TV contracts," Patison said. The "Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour," which began airing in December 2006, appears on Versus, a sports network based in Stamford, Conn.

Lucas Oil now handles about half of its own broadcast production work and continues to contract out the rest, he said.

Since October, the company has produced 30, one-hour episodes for the Versus network and 13, half-hour episodes of the "Lucas Oil IHBA" show for the Speed network.Next year, Lucas Oil will produce 35 "Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour" shows, Patison said.

The company has produced commercials for other companies, including K&N Engineering Inc. in Riverside, lawn mower maker Dixie Chopper in Indiana and electronic tuner company Superchips Inc. in Florida.

Lucas Oil's foray into commercial video production further bolsters its Team Lucas marketing program which launched three years ago. "It's probably grown faster than any other part of the business," Patison said of the marketing program. "It's [marketing revenue] 10 times what it was last year. ... We started off with Lucas Oil and K&N Filters. That was the beginning of the Team Lucas concept. Now we have 10 corporations that have joined us," he said.

Lucas Oil manufactures petroleum additives and lubricantsin Corona and at a plant in Corydon, Ind. The company sponsors race car drivers, teams and events.

Lucas Oil owns race tracks in Wheatland, Mo., and in Blythe.

In March 2006 Lucas Oil landed the naming rights to the new Indianapolis Colts football stadium for $122 million.

Lucas Oil founders and Indiana native Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, started the company in 1989 in Southern California, primarily to access West Coast freight channels.

The company evaluated an eastward migration last year, in part because of California's stringent regulatory environment and incentives dangled by Indiana officials. “Every day California is giving us another reason to move out,” Patison told The Business Press in September 2006. That month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed A.B. 1835, a bill that hiked minimum wages from $6.75 to $8 an hour by 2008, making California the state with the highest minimum wage.

Last October, Lucas Oil launched its first consumer-brand engine oil in Pep Boys auto stores. In February the company began selling the oil in NAPA Auto Parts stores. It landed a contract in May with Canadian Tire Corp., a large, coast-to-coast automotive, petroluem, financial services, sports and home goods retail chain in Canada. The company took on Lucas Oil’s entire product line. “It’s doing well so far,” Patison said.